Rethe was terrifyingly calm. She looked like a child being scolded for pulling the wings off a dragonfly — completely oblivious to what she had done wrong. Seeing this, Hailla felt something crackle inside her.

“Why?”

“Stop.”

“Why did you do it?”

“Don’t ask.”

Something deep inside her was pleading with her to stop. Yet her mouth moved of its own accord, pressing relentlessly on. The words burst uncontrollably from her lips. When there was no answer, her breathing became more frantic, her voice rising sharply as if she might break apart.

“Why! Why! Why?”

“No!”

Within Hailla, something popped with a dull thud. Immediately afterwards, the answer finally came:

“You always said your life belonged to me.”

It was a declaration that forbade even the slightest hope.

Speaking as if she were reciting an unchangeable truth, Rethe firmly crushed her sister’s last shred of hope. She spoke without hesitation or remorse, as someone who had never doubted or regretted her actions.

“Didn’t you say you’d do everything for me?”

She pushed Hailla into a dizzying abyss, as if she were teetering on the brink of a cliff. It was almost as if she had been waiting patiently for this exact moment, like a predator finally cornering its prey. Hailla gasped and stumbled backwards.

“It’s just a dream. Let’s just pretend it’s a dream. When I come out of the lake, I’ll wake up. If that doesn’t work, I’ll stab my hand with the blunt kitchen knife. If that fails too, I’ll go to the cliff and…”

She backed away, unaware of the chaotic thoughts racing through her mind, until her back bumped into the solid door. She quickly turned around and tried to open it.

At that moment, Rethe’s golden eyes flashed sharply, like a bird of prey.

“You’re not thinking of abandoning me over something this small, are you?”

With just those words, she forced her sister, who had been trying to turn away from reality, to face her again.

“Do you think you’ve finally got a good excuse now? Hmm?”

Ah, here it was again. Even in her dazed state, Hailla recognised the onset of her sister’s recurring paranoia: Those eyes, trying to put her on trial and watching closely for reactions. That angry voice, certain of the outcome:

“You’ll be miserable even if you abandon me.”

Her cruel sister spelling out the consequences of a betrayal she would never commit. Everything felt horribly familiar and realistic: her one and only family doubting and mistrusting her even in this moment, crushing her affection and devotion.

When Hailla slowly turned back, Rethe’s face was as dry and cold as ever. Hailla stumbled, taking shaky steps towards her sister again. She needed to confirm it for herself. No — she didn’t want confirmation. She dragged her broken mind forward, barely managing to breathe.

“You’ll be even more miserable.”

“No.”

“Because you’ll end up selling yourself, lying beneath that bastard who sees you only as an object to control.”

“No, no…”

“That’s exactly what’s going to happen. Actually, thanks to me, you now—”

Slap!

“Shut up!”

—

Rethe’s face whipped sharply to the side. In disbelief, she rubbed her cheek and turned to face Hailla again. At that moment, Hailla struck her again.

“Shut up! I said shut up!”

Hailla was now on top of her sister, hitting her face, shoulders, and torso frantically. Rethe did not resist, silently enduring the violence. It wasn’t until blood started dripping from her nose that Hailla finally stopped.

“Ugh, ah! Aaah…!”

Hailla collapsed on top of Rethe, letting out animal-like sobs.

“Aaaaagh!”

She screamed repeatedly and wept uncontrollably before finally managing to regain her composure and get off Rethe. Throughout this, Rethe remained motionless, as if waiting patiently for Hailla. Hailla found this so absurd that she laughed hysterically. Then, abruptly changing her expression, she grasped Rethe’s neck tightly with both hands.

“Why did you do it?”

“…”

“I asked you why! Why me?”

“If I hadn’t—”

“…”

“You would’ve abandoned me.”

Hailla exhaled roughly, a hoarse sigh escaping her throat.

“Because you would’ve chosen him.”

Slap!

Hailla slapped Rethe’s cheek again, but this time softly, almost like a gentle caress. Rethe slowly turned her head back and met her sister’s gaze. Hailla’s expression twisted grotesquely as she laughed through her tears.

“You tricked me because you thought I belonged to you? Because you thought I’d betray you? No!”

Anger surged through her exhausted body as she laughed bitterly and tearfully at her sister’s hypocrisy.

“You just…”

She trembled pitifully, consumed by despair — the very image Rethe had always wanted.

“You just wanted to ruin me.”

Exactly as Rethe had always wished.

“Because you hate me. Because that’s all that’s left.”

Her body crumbled slowly, her knees sinking to the floor. Hailla sat on the ground, helpless and weeping bitterly. Admitting the truth she had never wanted to believe in filled her with disgust and sorrow.

“I was so stupid. You’re right; I was a fool to try to cope alone. I thought that, one day, we could be real sisters again; that I’d get another chance…”

“Hailla.”

“Even though it was already over…”

Rethe kept calling out, but Hailla mumbled as though she were broken.

“So.”

“…”

“So, are you going to abandon me now?”

Hailla stared at her sister in disbelief. Even after everything she had done, even after reducing her to this state, Rethe was still talking about trust and promises. Hailla simply couldn’t understand it.

“Is that still important to you?”

“You promised you wouldn’t abandon me.”

Rethe wasn’t a fool. She was intelligent, calculating, and quick to grasp reality. She was clearly aware of the pain, loss and fury that Hailla was experiencing.

“If I hadn’t done this, you would have left me. You would have chosen him. In the end, that’s exactly what would have happened!”

Yet the fact that she was still screaming and behaving so cruelly truly meant—

“You never loved me at all, did you?”

“I should have just died back then.”

Hailla she murmured absently. She bitterly thought that she should have died that day, when the stench of blood had filled the entire house and clung to her sleeves. Her sister had pointed to the chunks of meat and asked if she wanted to end up like that.

“I should’ve let you kill me back then.”

She left those words hanging in the air, standing still for a long while before slowly turning around and walking out of the room. She thought she heard something coming from the bed, but Hailla, with her fractured mind, simply stepped outside through the front door, her eyes empty. Glancing around aimlessly, she began climbing the mountain without purpose.

“I should have died. Back then, I should’ve just died…”

Her slow steps gradually became quicker. Soon, she was racing upwards, sprinting as fast as she could. Running, running, running — until she tripped over a tree root and fell. She hit the ground with a loud thud, startling only the small mountain animals nearby.

There was no one around. Absolutely no one.

Realising this, Hailla didn’t get up. Lying sprawled on the ground, she curled up and hugged her knees. Tears streamed down her face and trickled towards her ears, but she didn’t notice. She stared blankly ahead, blinking slowly, as though nothing mattered anymore. Her gaze naturally settled on her feet.

“Ah.”

The shoes that Lian had given her were still on her feet, covered in dirt — expensive, comfortable, familiar shoes.

“Ugh… ugh…”

She suddenly felt nauseous and quickly covered her mouth with both hands. But she couldn’t stop herself, and ended up vomiting everything she had eaten earlier onto the ground. The vomiting didn’t stop easily. She kept retching and heaving until only bitter bile came up. However, the heavy, suffocating pressure inside her didn’t lessen at all. In fact, it pressed down on her even harder.

“Ugh… ugh… ugh…”

She hit her chest repeatedly, struggling to breathe as though she were drowning in deep water.

“Ah… hnnng… ugh…”

“I wish I had really drowned.”

Her body went limp and she was completely drained. She lay abandoned on the ground for hours. She watched silently as the sun moved across the sky and her shadow grew longer. Only when darkness had fallen, obscuring her shadow completely, did she finally stand up.

Her pale face revealed nothing. She didn’t even bother tidying her dishevelled appearance. Standing motionlessly, she glanced around. She stared blankly at the dark mountain, the towering trees, and the damp soil as though she were seeing them for the first time. After a long pause, she muttered softly.

“Oh, I need to cook chicken stew.”

“What if Sister gets angry?”

She asked absently, stumbling forward. She tripped repeatedly on her way down the dark path, but each time she laughed softly to herself, got back up, and continued hurrying home.

She walked without resting towards the only home she had left.

—

There was nobody inside the house. Hailla slowly opened Rethe’s bedroom door. The room was dark and the lights were off. Rethe was lying motionless, turned away from Hailla. Without checking further, Hailla assumed her sister was asleep and quietly closed the door. She then went into the kitchen, considered what she could use instead of chicken stew, took out some vegetables and tomatoes, and began preparing them.

Chop, chop, chop. Slice, slice.

The only sound in the empty space was that of her knife hitting the chopping board. Hailla sliced through the ingredients methodically until she realised that she had bruised them severely. Without any sense of disappointment or embarrassment, she transferred them to a pot, added some water and stirred everything together to make stew.

A few hours later, she ladled the thick stew into a bowl, placed it on a tray, and walked into her sister’s room. As usual, she put the tray on the table beside Rethe’s bed and softly called out.

“Sister, let’s eat.”

But there was no reply.